Anakpawis coordinator killed in ComVal town

Subscribe Now May 28, 2013 at 08:37am

A coordinator of Anakpawis Party-list in Mawab town, Compostela Valley Province was gunned down by unidentified armed men "believed to be agents of the state" on Saturday morning, human rights group Karapatan-Southern Mindanao reported.

Eddie Cañon, 43, a resident of Sitio San Isidro was killed in Nuevo Iloco village.

“The victim allegedly sustained gunshot wounds on his head causing his death,” said Senior Superintendent Camilo Cascolan, Compostela Valley Philippine National Police Provincial Director, in a text to davaotoday.com.

Cascolan added that Amando Amoguil Jandayan, a resident of Purok 4B in Nuevo Iloco, reported the incident to police authorities at about 8AM the same day. The crime happened at about 7 AM in the rice field owned by Juanito Plaras of Purok 4C.

Cañon reportedly sustained 13 multiple gunshot wounds in his head and body.

Based on the initial investigation conducted by the Mawab Police Station, Cañon was on his way to the town proper to purchase some food items and to pay his electric bill when two unidentified men blocked his motorcycle and shot him several times using a .45 caliber pistol. The suspects fled onboard a black Yamaha STX motorcycle with no plate number.

Police authorities recovered one slug of .45 caliber pistol and three fired cartridge cases at the crime scene.

Hanimay Suazo of Karapatan-Southern Mindanao said that prior to Cañon’s death, he was “frequently harassed” by elements of the Philippine Army’s 66th Infantry Battalion led by one Sgt. Castillo, Dante Ramirez, a certain De Cuenca and Rey Santiago. These military men, she added, “vilified Cañon’s affiliation with the progressive party-list.”